The Insight Post-Uganda
In the recent council session for Mukono Municipality, the area Member of Parliament, Betty Nambooze suggested the revival of new efforts to degazette Namyoya Central Forest Reserve.
In her submission, the legislator was concerned about the depletion of the forest and unauthorized developments taking place on the land.
She, therefore, proposed that the council pass another motion recommending to degazette the reserve and also ensure proper allocation of land.
In this case, it would be important for the municipality to use part of the land to establish a recreation center, cemetery, and market spaces as well as a lagoon for sewer.
“Last time I made the same proposal and a few propagandists spread rumours that I was up to a clean share. We asked the municipal engineer and the planner to find out if there are already titles and as well report to us on how building plans are authorized on the contested land, it is now two years, and they are yet to report back.” She noted.
The proposal was adopted by the council, but it is lately attracting strong criticism from especially local politicians within the area.
Among them is Allan Mawanda, the Central Division Speaker who insists that the reserve was partitioned into different blocks and owned by various individuals.
According to him, the process of removing the official status will give the current claimant direct rights on the land, making it impossible for the municipality to establish the proposed developments.
On the contrary, Goma Division LCIII Chairperson Humphrey Kyasa is comfortable with the degazette of the reserve since it will help them have a proper plan for the area since people are swiftly occupying it and setting up permanent infrastructure.
He further notes that by the time the government will wake up to stop them, there shall be no more land for division activities.
The forest reserve initially had 900 acres but due to encroachment over the past years, only less than 400 acres are left.
Out of the remaining acres, part of them were replaced with eucalyptus trees while other parts of the forest are used for bricklaying, wetland rice growing, and new construction of permanent buildings are underway.
Last year, a section of councillors within the two divisions of Mukono Municipality divisions led by Allan Mawanda held a press conference at Seeta and threatened to embark on a process of soliciting trees to replant part of the depleted forest.
The campaign hit a dead end, it is allegedly said that it was merely a political play, while others say it was a fishing expedition intended to identify individuals owning land titles in the central forest reserve.
Our Findings
The Insight Post-Uganda has established that so far three individuals own land titles on the contested reserve. These include Gloria Turyamureeba and Kapkwata Woods Limited. They have been on the land since 2017. Also, Umar Kakonge owns titles on the same land, but his volumes are still unknown.
Namyoya forest reserve was among the list of the 16 proposed forests to be degazetted in different districts.
However, Members of Parliament then requested the Ministry of Water and Environment-MoWE to make a technical report on the matter as well as listing exchange land to gazette new forests.
In its report, the Ministry said that none of the districts met the procedural and legal requirements to degazette the forest reserve.
These include approval by the local government councils at all levels, and alternative land in the same ecological zones for gazetting new forests.
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